A schoolgirl left paralysed after being caught in gang crossfire says she is “proud” of the extraordinary progress she has made.
Thusha Kamaleswaran was just five in 2011 when she was critically injured by gangsters who fired into a shop owned by her uncle in Stockwell, where she was playing.
Although she is still confined to a wheelchair, she hopes to be able to walk again one day.
She turns 13 this week and is making plans to celebrate with friends and family.
Thanks to regular rehabilitation sessions at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which she attends for two weeks every few months, her legs have now regained some movement.
She said that her experience had inspired her ambitions, adding: “I want to be a doctor myself because they saved me. If I can be a doctor then it’s an extra person to save someone’s life.”
She said she “doesn’t think about the people” involved in the shooting.
Last week, Thusha, whose favourite subject is science, enjoyed a traditional Sri Lankan coming-of-age party with her family, ahead of her birthday on Friday.
The pupil at Seven Kings High School in Ilford said her progress was due to the “strong support” from her mother Sharmila, 41, and father Sasi, 43.
Mr Kamaleswaran, who works in a petrol station, said his daughter has now regained about 75 per cent movement in her lower legs.
Thusha took to the stage at the NHS Heroes Awards on May 14, to celebrate the medics who were involved in saving her life.
“I’d like to say thank you to all the doctors and nurses who helped me. I’m here because of them,” she said.
